1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a video signal selecting method and video signal processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a video signal selecting method for allowing one of a plurality of video signals to be easily selected and processed in a video processing apparatus having a plurality of video signal inputs including a broadcasting signal input, and to a video signal processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a video signal processing apparatus may be implemented by a television, monitor, or the like that directly processes a broadcasting signal received via a radio wave or cable or a video signal input from an external player, such as a digital versatile disc (DVD) player, and displays it. The video signal processing apparatus may also be implemented by a set-top box for outputting the signal to an external display device, and the like.
In a video signal processing apparatus, a user selects a desired video signal using a remote control or a video signal select key of the video processing apparatus. That is, each time the user presses the video signal select key, video signal names indicating video signals are displayed in a predetermined order by an on screen display (OSD) on a screen so that the video signal corresponding to the displayed video signal name is selected. If the user no longer presses the video signal select key, the last selected video signal is displayed.
Conventionally, a user selects one of a plurality of video signals by continuously pressing a video signal select key. If the user misses a desired video signal name, he or she must continuously press the video signal select key to display the video signal name and select a corresponding video signal.
In a video processing apparatus capable of receiving a plurality of video signals, e.g., TV, Video 1, Video 2, Video 3, . . . , Video n (n=integer), including a broadcasting signal, each time a user presses a video signal select key, video signal names corresponding to the plurality of video signals are displayed sequentially in an order of TV→Video 1→Video 2→Video 3→ . . . →Video n→TV. In a case where a user desires to select the Video 2 video signal, but fails to stop pressing the video signal select key at the Video 2 video signal, he or she must press the select key an additional n times to arrive at the desired Video 2 video signal.
To solve this problem, a display order setting scheme is disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-2005-0039330A, in which video signal names corresponding to a plurality of video signals including a broadcasting signal are displayed in an order set according to usage frequency of each of the plurality of video signals.
In Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-2006-0047033, a table of video signal names is displayed on a screen so that a user selects a desired video signal by moving a curser up and down on the table, using a remote control for example.
A remote control for a television broadcasting receiver for use with a plurality of digital recording devices networked is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2006-094343A. In this patent, a remote control and a display device are disclosed, in which an input switching key of the remote control is used as a key for switching video inputs and has a + part and a − part. When pressing the + part of the input switching key of the remote control, a user can select a video signal sequentially in a forward order of TV→Video1→Video2→Video 3→Video 4. When pressing the − part of the input switching key, the user can select the video signal in a backward order of Video 4→Video 3→Video 2→Video 1→TV.
In this conventional technique, however, a user directly sets a display order of video signal names through a separate task, or selects a desired one of video signal names displayed as a table form on a screen by pressing a separate key of a remote control or a curser key. As the user is forced to set a display order, which is a complex task, or select a desired video signal from the displayed table of video signal names by pressing a separate input switching key of the remote control or the curser key as described above, which obstructs current viewing, the user needs to learn a plurality of complex function keys of the remote control. Therefore, user inconvenience is caused, particularly in terms of the user interface of the video processing apparatus.
As the video signal names are structured into a table, the video processing apparatus requires an additional storage. Furthermore, as the functions of the input switching key of the remote control increases, a corresponding program stored in the video processing apparatus for interacting with the remote control functions becomes complicated.
A frequency, a pattern, and the like of an infrared (IR) signal corresponding to the input signal switching key of the remote control must be stored in a storage unit of the video processing apparatus if the above-described methods are implemented in a video processing apparatus, and a corresponding program executed by a control unit implemented by a microprocessor of the video processing apparatus is further complicated.